Mario Kart Tour Mobile Review (Spoiler, It’s Not Good)

I was so excited when I heard the news that Mario Kart was coming to mobile... I have never been so disappointed.

If you grew up in the 90's like me, chances are you've played your fair share of Mario games. Of course, I fell in love with the franchise at an early as, as many of you did as well I'm sure. Since the Super Nintendo days, Mario Kart has help a special place in my heart. In fact, I can't think of many games I played as often as Mario Kart growing up.

When the news came out that finally, Mario Kart was coming to mobile, I was thrilled. I was excited about a new Mario Kart gaming experience, which is certainly weird to admit to you all of you as a 28-year-old man.

I downloaded the game, then everything began falling apart quickly.

To be fair, there are things I like about the game... So I guess we will start there.

WHAT I LIKED:

1. The game play transitions surprisingly well to the mobile, one-handed driving system. Driving your kart around familiar Mario Kart tracks comes very easy to old-timers like myself, and newcomers like my 7-year-old daughter.

2. Nope, that's actually all I liked.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE:

1. Mario Kart without Mario? It's true, you don't get to play as Mario in this game... For free anyways. In order to play as Mario, the app requires you to literally pay for him. I was not a fan of that.

2. You won't progress through this game, unless you're willing to pony up the cash. Unlike Mario Run, you can play this game for free. The problem is, much like having to pay to play as Mario, you also have to pay to progress through the game. This mobile version features Cup Races like MK's in the past, the problem with this one is a that you need a certain amount of stars to continue to new cups. The problem with that is as the cups progress, you need specific racers and karts to score higher on tracks. So how do you get those specific characters and vehicles? You got it... Pay up.

3. AI's everywhere. The game certainly wants you to believe you're racing against real people. Each race features riders from all over, with unique usernames. The problem is, they are just bots, and I would much rather experience this mobile game goings heads up with other real people.

4. Where's the battle mode? Who could forget battle mode on Mario Karts of the past? You've got three balloons tied to your kart, and you must do everything in your power to keep them safe. Where's this mode???

5. Finally, where the hell is Luigi. Despite being the second-most popular character in the franchise, and also being in the loading screen, Luigi is no where to found within the game. You'll never come across him in a race, and he's not even featured in the "drivers" portion of the app.

BOTTOM LINE:

The game has promise, mainly because it's another Mario Kart game. It's monetization methods will drive you crazy, but you might have a little fun in the few begging races you'll be able to experience before the time comes where you'll have to start paying real money. I would recommend spending your money elsewhere.